Internet rumors have long warned that artificial sweeteners cause cancer.

It looks like it might be just the opposite.

"Artificial Sweetener Could Offer Superior Cancer Treatments"

https://www.biosciencetechnology.com/news/2018/01/artificial-sweetener-could-offer-superior-cancer-treatments

#CoSoScience

Prediction of titanic nitride proved unsinkable: Long sought-after form of cubic, semiconducting titanium nitride synthesized

"A team of experimental and computational scientists have synthesized a long sought-after form of titanium nitride, which has promising mechanical and optoelectronic properties."

Research funded by the National Science Foundation

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180125085108.htm

#NSF #CoSoScience

MIT Group May Have Solved The Liquid Sodium Battery Conundrum

"A battery that uses a liquid sodium electrode was first proposed in 1968. While revolutionary in theory, in practice it required a specialized membrane manufactured from ultra thin ceramic material to keep the components of the battery separated. Not only was the ceramic membrane expensive to manufacture, it was also exceedingly brittle, making it impractical for real world use."

https://cleantechnica.com/2018/01/26/mit-group-may-solved-liquid-sodium-battery-conundrum

#CoSoScience

The largest gap in Near-Earth-Objects awareness is for objects from 140m to 1km in size.

#AAAC #CoSoScience

NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office received over 18 million observations of Near-Earth Objects, from 76 countries, in 2016.

#AAAC #CoSoScience

Afterglow from Neutron-Star Merger Continues to Puzzle Astrophysicists

"The afterglow from the distant neutron-star merger detected last August has continued to brighten – much to the surprise of astrophysicists studying the aftermath of the massive collision that took place about 138 million light years away and sent gravitational waves rippling through the universe."

https://scitechdaily.com/afterglow-from-neutron-star-merger-continues-to-puzzle-astrophysicists/

#CoSoScience

"NASA Planetary Defense Coordination Office: established in January 2016 to address and plan response to asteroid impact hazard."

-- NASA-­‐LSST Near-­‐Earth Object Collaborations, by NASA's LTC Lindley Johnson, Planetary Defense Officer

Presentation given at NSF's Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee

#AAAC #CoSoScience

New Biosensor Can Monitor Glucose Levels From Contact Lenses

"Researchers report in the journal ACS Nano the development of an ultra-thin, flexible sensor that could be incorporated into contact lenses or on the backs of watches for real-time glucose tracking."

https://scitechdaily.com/new-biosensor-can-monitor-glucose-levels-from-contact-lenses/

#CoSoScience

Physicists Take First Step Towards Quantum Dot Based Spin Qubit Registers

"The worldwide race to create more, better and reliable quantum processors is progressing fast, as a team of TU Delft scientists led by Professor Vandersypen has realized yet again. In a neck-and-neck race with their competitors, they showed that quantum information of an electron spin can be transported to a photon, in a silicon quantum chip."

https://scitechdaily.com/physicists-take-first-step-towards-quantum-dot-based-spin-qubit-registers/

#CoSoScience

Oldest Stars in the Galaxy Provide Clues to Dark Matter

"Just how quickly is the dark matter near Earth zipping around? The speed of dark matter has far-reaching consequences for modern astrophysical research, but this fundamental property has eluded researchers for years."

https://scitechdaily.com/oldest-stars-in-the-galaxy-provide-clues-to-dark-matter/

#CoSoScience

CORRECTION: The population minima (fewer than 200 individuals) occurred near the beginning of the the 20th century, not the end.

In the meantime, here's a baby one-horned, or Indian, rhino loving taking a shower.

The Indian rhino is considered a great success story for conservation; after declining to a population of about 200 at the end of the 20th Century due to poaching, numbers are currently estimated at more than 3,500.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbRdcroLRMI

#CoSoScience

Tomorrow is #CoSoScience #Friday!

NSF Director: Federal Funds Are Key to Scientific Discovery

https://www.usnews.com/news/stem-solutions/articles/2018-01-24/national-science-foundation-director-france-cordova-says-federal-funding-is-instrumental-to-scientific-discovery

#CoSoScience

@Groovyeli Not at all! It's a good point. "Empty space" really isn't.

@Groovyeli That's always the way of things :)

@Groovyeli It's not an official term. In this case, the lasers are extremely short pulses of energy, focused on a very small area--on the order of 100 petawatts (1 with 17 zeros after it) focused into an area a little smaller than a red blood cell.